Reviews

Review by: Foob (a.k.a. Johan Wuyckens), 31 May 2007, Belgium...all comparisons aside, there's only one word that accurately describes the music on Apsilene. That word is quite simply "beautiful". Indeed, these are nothing more (or less) than beautiful and fascinating compositions, perfectly performed by a great instrumentalist and composer... The full text of this review is available from Underrated Albums

Review by: Fred Trafton, 18 January 2006 This is very odd music. I could easily see a hardened prog snob turning his nose up at it due to the soft, movie-soundtrack style of the music. But the arrangements are so strange, yet beautiful, that I would have to classify this album as prog. It's difficult to describe the music. It seems to be more about playing up and down harmonics in a rhythmic way than about melody. You could almost hear these "melodies" as being produced by tuned wind chimes, though the timbres are mostly organ, acoustic guitar and bass. Drums are used too, usually to create a rhythm that's a counterpoint to the rhythms being made by the tonal instruments. It's hard to describe, but easy to listen to; hypnotic and relaxing without being at all new-agey. The "melodies" might almost be randomly generated, except that there are places where some of the sequences are reprised or harmonized or counterpointed, meaning these strange sequences were composed rather than "found". Download ... listen ...

Review by: Jeff Fitzgerald , 30 July 2003There’s a great deal of depth and spaciousness to his music, and a wonderful complexity that shows off his jazz leanings. Apsiline is image-invoking music, always moving forward, like a narrative in sound, a sonic storyboard of rich ideas. The full text of this review is available from Aural Innovations

Review by: Tom Schulte, 24 July 2003, MichiganLike some of the music of Tangerine Dream, this is an ambitious, prog-rock album heavily based on electronica. The instrumental pieces largely success as powerful and somewhat eerie pieces. The London-based composer varies the mood of his compositions from a potent juggernaut to a tranquil melody. All this change and variation flows easily and naturally over the entire CD that can be heard as a unified opus. The following review appears on the Outsight Home Page

Review by: Germán Villén, 10 July 2003What can I say about this album? It´s one of the best albums that I´ve lately listened to. The full text of this review is available from Progvisions

Review by: The Hairless Heart Herald, 13 May 2003The music is complex but on first listen, the effect it had on me was, well, strange. It is almost as if I was hearing, no, seeing a canvas unravelling to slowly reveal a soothing array of colours applied with careful and alluring brushstrokes resulting in a sort of dreamscape. Somehow, the music took over my biorhythms leaving me pleasantly chilled out. Although I have implied that the music is the sort to chill to, it is not without a darker and more frenetic side. It moves in and out of different ‘phases’ as the mood takes it. And a theme heard on the first track crops up again throughout the album, which I prefer to look on as one big 62-minute track than seven separate tracks. Apsilene is like an addictive hypnotic drug – you just want to keep coming back to it. The full text of this review is available from The Hairless Heart Herald

Review by: European Progressive Rock Reviews, 27 April 2003The more I listen to this quite extraordinary album I hear new twists, turns and reference points, it has a lasting quality. For example, Track 6 has its roots deep in progressive electronica territory somewhere between Tangerine Dream and Porcupine Tree while the final 11min section is a multi-levelled piece that covers the spectrum of genres from classical guitar, progressive, film score to that jazzy influence that Mark Isham captures, its 11 mins of pure inspirational composing. Therein lies the secret of this wonderful album, every time I came to it I heard different influences and styles. A CD you wont be able to stop playing, its a grower made all the more attractive when you realise that it is free to download from the website below. Catch it while you can, you never know how long it will be available free. A flawless piece of work. 100% The full text of this review is available (under S) from European Progressive Rock Reviews

Review by: Christian Hess, 17 April 2003, http://www.musicaprogresiva.com Truly excellent material! A sort of Porcupine-Tree-meets-Mahavishnu-Orchestra combination, from my point of view. I will definitely be recommending